Provider Recruitment Support: The Health Professions Loan Assistance Program

The WI Office of Rural Health and the WI Department of Commerce are pleased to announce that 19 health care providers have been awarded Health Professions Loan Assistance Program awards in 2009.  Over 30 physicians, dentists, advance practice nurses and dental hygienists submitted applications to the program in November.  The Program awards up to $50,000 to providers who agree to work three years in a federally designated health professional shortage area.  While the majority of shortage areas are rural, portions of some urban communities qualify.  Providers receiving awards are working in communities from Siren to Milwaukee and Boscobel to Park Falls. 

 

The Program attempts to address the provider shortage that is acute in many areas in the State and will only get worse in the future, according to pretty much every source.  The Association of American Medical Colleges found that there will be a shortage of almost 125,000 physicians by 2025, mostly in primary care.  The problem is a population, especially seniors, that’s growing faster than the physician supply.  Their report says the result will be longer waiting times for appointments, increased travel distances to get care, shorter visit times with physicians, expanded use of non-physicians for care, and higher prices.  These problems will be magnified in areas that experience chronic shortages, such as rural communities.  Although this report focused on physicians, the same problem applies to other providers.  The most recent issue of the Rural WI Health Cooperative’s newsletter, Eye on Health, is dedicated to the workforce shortage and contains several interesting (and alarming) articles and interviews.  The Health Professions Loan Program is an effective method of recruiting providers to communities experiencing these shortages.  The Office of Rural Health also has provider recruitment programs.  Marsha Siik is our dentist and physical therapist recruiter and Randy Munson is our physician recruiter.

 

The application deadline for 2010 awards is November 2, 2009.  Check our website for more information or contact me if you have questions about the Program. 

January 26, 2009 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: Program Updates, Provider Loan Repayment

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